Insider Selling: A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) VP Sells 1,026 Shares of Stock

A. O. Smith Co. (NYSE:AOS) VP Robert J. Heideman sold 1,026 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.65, for a total transaction of $67,356.90. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 8,889 shares in the company, valued at $583,562.85. This represents a 10.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

A. O. Smith Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE AOS opened at $65.30 on Thursday. A. O. Smith Co. has a 12-month low of $64.55 and a 12-month high of $92.44. The company has a market cap of $9.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.18.

A. O. Smith (NYSE:AOS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The industrial products company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). A. O. Smith had a net margin of 13.98% and a return on equity of 28.87%. Equities research analysts expect that A. O. Smith Co. will post 3.77 EPS for the current year.

A. O. Smith Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, January 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.08%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 31st. A. O. Smith’s payout ratio is 37.47%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on AOS. Robert W. Baird cut their target price on shares of A. O. Smith from $82.00 to $81.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com raised A. O. Smith from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on A. O. Smith from $90.00 to $84.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on A. O. Smith from $88.00 to $84.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price target on A. O. Smith from $80.00 to $74.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $80.86.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On A. O. Smith

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the fourth quarter worth approximately $96,180,000. KBC Group NV raised its stake in A. O. Smith by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,648,825 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $112,467,000 after acquiring an additional 471,990 shares in the last quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 92.4% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 761,410 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $68,397,000 after acquiring an additional 365,710 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in A. O. Smith by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,721,581 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $693,630,000 after acquiring an additional 299,766 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of A. O. Smith during the third quarter valued at $24,060,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.10% of the company’s stock.

A. O. Smith Company Profile

A. O. Smith Corporation manufactures and markets residential and commercial gas and electric water heaters, boilers, heat pumps, tanks, and water treatment products in North America, China, Europe, and India. The company offers water heaters for residences, restaurants, hotels, office buildings, laundries, car washes, and small businesses; boilers for hospitals, schools, hotels, and other large commercial buildings, as well as homes, apartments, and condominiums; and water treatment products comprising point-of-entry water softeners, well water solutions, and whole-home water filtration products, and point-of-use carbon and reverse osmosis products for residences, restaurants, hotels, and offices.